Do you remember where your improv journey started?
Mine was working with a bunch of scraps leftover from my fellow Montreal Modern Quilt Guild members QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge.
The challenge was before I joined the guild, but they had quite a bit of trimmings that remained and we wanted to make good use of every last inch.
So, I volunteered to take the fabric scraps home and figure out some way to eke out another twin quilt to be donated to a local woman’s shelter.
What emerged was the Mondrian quilt and I just fell in love with the improv process. That quilty project kick-started my love for working without a pattern and led to my deep dive into all things improv with my 100-Days of Improv quilt. That one was focused on scalene triangle trimmings and those angles were just a hoot to play with.
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SHAPE OF THE WEEK: TRIANGLES
I share this as inspiration for the fun you can have with the shape of the week: triangles!
Those bias edges can be a little tricky, but also so fuuuuuun to lean into those angles.
Here’s how my improv play played out!
Day 1
Day 1 saw me off to a rocky start! I was completely stumped mid-way through piecing the block, unsure how I wanted to pull the motif together. I kept playing around until I finally landed on this beauty.
Day 2
I was in the zone for Day 2. Unlike Day 1 which took me a while to figure out, today’s block was easy peasy and just built itself. I didn’t second guess every decision and she evolved super organically. Love when that happens.
Day 3
My intent was to slice and dice, but I just loved the block as she was. So, I made the executive decision to leave her as is. That’s the beauty of orchestrating your own quilt design: you call the shots!
Day 4
I love the angles created by the *Light Citron. It’s focusing on these kinds of details that really gets me fired up and tuned into the construction of the improv quilt block.
Day 5
I had a moment of hesitation, but not for long! I had the block fully pieced and then I was tempted to slice ‘n dice her up! It’s your quilt journey, so use the prompts as inspiration and as guides. You don’t have to use them in order. Do what feels right to you!
At the end of this week’s challenge, I was surprised at how ‘challenging’ I found the triangle shape. Normally triangles are right up my quilty improv alley, but this time around I found myself having to work through the piecing journey, giving myself the grace to be patient with my practice. Some days you feel it more than others. That’s ok and totally normal 😉 What’s important is sticking with it and working through those unsure moments.
MATERIALS FEATURED
Here’s everything I used to create my improv blocks for Week 3:
- *AGF PURE Solids in Lemonade
- *AGF PURE Solids in Light Citron
- *AGF PURE Solids in Dark Citron
- *AGF PURE Solids in Raspberry Rose
- *AGF PURE Solids in Plum Preserve
- *LDH Rotary Cutter
- *LDH 9” Midnight Edition Fabric Shears
- *Aurifil Thread in 50wt Colour 2000 for piecing
- *Cutting Mat
- *Sewing Machine
- *Iron
- Wool pressing mat
For more 30 Days of Improv QAL check out the following posts:
You’re halfway through the weekly shape challenges! Amazing how quickly it goes, right?!
Keep up the amazing work and I look forward to seeing which triangles you feature in your own #30DaysofImprovQAL blocks.
The quilt along is motoring right along, but you can still join the fun! The challenge is set up as an email series so you can participate at any time and have the emails to reference long after the challenge is over. Sign up here to get tips and tricks delivered straight to your inbox. Sign-ups are now closed. Sign up for the weekly newsletter to be notified of the next one!
Happy stitching!
xo,
Shannon
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